万籁俱寂
wàn​lài​jù​jì

dead silent

万 wàn ten thousand Simplified

Original meaning: to not be seen

Simplified form of 萬. Variant of 丏. Depicts a person (人) with a cover on top, conveying the original meaning "to not be seen". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

一
一 Iconic component
yī one

Used here to depict a cover.

人
人 Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

厉虿劢

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

迈趸疠

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmans
mɯːɡ

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.701黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.2839-2840
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

籁 lài bamboo flute Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 赖 represents the sound. Simplified form of 籟.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

赖
赖 Sound component
lài depend on

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

俱 jù all

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 具 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

具
具 Sound component
jù, ju tool

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjuk(r)oall, together
Zhengzhangko
ɡos

說文解字

偕也。从人具聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

寂 jì still

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 叔 represents the sound.

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
叔
叔 Sound component
shū, shu uncle

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzeks-[d]ˤiwkquiet
Zhengzhangzlɯːwɢ
Unicodedzhek

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

萬 wàn ten thousand Traditional

Original meaning: scorpion

Originally a pictograph of a scorpion. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

邁躉癘

Sound (1)

厲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmjonHC.ma[n]-s 10,000

說文解字

《說文》：“萬，蟲也。从厹，象形。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.954-955漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

籟 bamboo flute Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 賴 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

賴
賴 Sound component
lài depend on

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlajHrˤa[t]-stube
Zhengzhangraːds
Unicodelɑ̀i

說文解字

三孔龠也。大者謂之笙，其中謂之籟，小者謂之箹。从竹賴聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)